Richard Clarke – Boughton

March 2018

Chester man downloaded images of young children being sexually abused

A Chester man lost a “particularly good job” after he was charged with possessing indecent images of children.

A court heard how some of them involved particularly young children being subjected to sexual abuse.

On Monday (March 12) Richard Anthony Clarke, 52, was placed on a suspended sentence. He was also ordered to register with the police as a sex offender for ten years.

Clarke, of Neville Drive in Boughton, admitted that between June 2016 and January 2017 he made by downloading 13 category A images – the worst kind – together with 15 category B and 13 category C images.

At Flintshire Magistrates’ Court at Mold, he received a 12 month prison sentence, which was suspended for two years.

He was sent on a programme aimed at such offenders run by the probation service named Horizon – 29 group sessions covering 60 hours.

The defendant, who was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order to cover his use of the internet, was ordered to pay £85 costs and a £140 surcharge.

Magistrates said the offences were so serious, involving shocking images of extremely young children being sexually abused, that it met the custody threshold.